LALLY'S DEFEAT AT VANDEWASH 145

portant fort of Vandewash. Olive's letter to Pitt in January, 1759, before the siege of Madras had been raised, shows that he had confidently foreseen that the English power at sea, and their possession of the re- sources of Bengal, must inevitably bring about Lally's complete discomfiture; and before the year's end this prediction was fulfilled. The two armies manoeuvred against each other in the Karnatic for some months; but Lally, disregarding Bussy's advice, insisted on attempting to recover Van- dewash; whereupon he was attacked by Coote, who saw that since the siege chained the French down to one spot, he could choose his own time and tactics for fighting them, whereas, to meet him, Lally would be compelled to divide his force, having to leave a part in the entrenchments. The battle that followed was gallantly contested between the European troops, who were about two thousand strong on each side, by push of bayonet, musketry at close quarters, and artillery. Coote 's and Draper's regiments met the battalions of Lorraine and Lally; there was resolute charging and countercharging, until the French fell into some dis- order, when the plunging fire of the English cannon, the explosion of a tumbril, the fine handling of their men by Coote and Draper, and the capture of Bussy determined the defeat of the French. The sepoys on both sides were kept back by their commanders and took little share in the action; the Marathas in the French pay hovered uselessly on the outskirts. Lally vainly attempted, with his usual intrepidity, to lead in